The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
An aircraft is propelled by one or several propulsion unit(s) comprising a turbojet engine housed in a tubular nacelle. Each propulsion unit is fastened to the aircraft by a mast generally located under a wing or at the fuselage.
A nacelle generally presents a structure comprising an upstream air inlet section, upstream of the engine, a mid-section intended to surround a fan of the turbojet engine, and a downstream section intended to surround the combustion chamber of the turbojet engine and accommodating a thrust reverser device.
Conventionally, the thrust reverser device may comprise a cowl movable in translation along the axis of the nacelle, this translation being most often carried out thanks to a sliding connection realized between the movable cowl and the mast for fastening a propulsion unit to the aircraft.
Conventionally, the thrust reverser device may implement translating cascades which are retracted on the fan casing (or carter fan) in the direct jet position and which, when switching to the thrust reversal position, slide downstream of the nacelle in concert with the movable cowl of the thrust reverser (or transcowl) so as to be deployed and reach their thrust reversal position.
In this device, the translating cascades have a sliding connection with the fan casing, but they are also connected to the movable cowl of the thrust reverser which leads them towards their thrust reversal position.
In this type of device, there may be a suspension area between the mast and the fan casing, located upstream of the mast. The translating cascades cannot be fixed in this front suspension area because of interferences.
When the turbojet engine is in operation, there are relative displacements between the fan casing and the movable cowl of the thrust reverser which induce undesirable forces on the sliding connection between the fan casing and the translating cascades.
Not only these undesirable forces weaken the whole device, but they also cause misalignments of the translating cascades at their sliding connection with the front casing, thereby impacting the reliability of such a device.